


Consequences

by danke_rose



Category: X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: F/M, Guilt, Maggie is smart, Mild Angst, Other characters mentioned - Freeform, brainwashed infidelity, discussion of counseling/therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 05:58:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19312051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danke_rose/pseuds/danke_rose
Summary: Brian and Maggie find a way to bring Meggan back to their family in the wake of Nate Grey's AoX.  Meggan, Kurt, and the others deal with the consequences of Nate's manipulations.





	Consequences

**Author's Note:**

> Is Moira dead? I don't know. For this fic, she's alive. Where's Douglock? Does he exist? I don't know. For this fic, he exists and lives at Moira's. 
> 
> I have no idea how the canon version of AoX started, or how it ends. This deals with the consequences of Meggan, who is canonically married and has a child with Brian Braddock, being pulled from her world and into a relationship with Kurt in AoX. If you enjoyed AoX and particularly its Nightcrawler solo, you probably won't like this fic. If you didn't like Meggan being torn away from her family, then read on my friends. 
> 
> Blame bad translation on google.
> 
> Characters will be dealing with the consequences of their unintentional infidelity and forgetting their families; guilt and discussions of counseling.

Meggan laughed as she and Maggie played dominoes on the floor of the lighthouse. For a toddler, Maggie was advanced far beyond any of her peers. Mutant genes, everyone said. Maggie giggled as she won the game, as she did every time. Meggan didn't care. She was happy. Brian joined them, squatting on the floor to rumple Maggie's hair and kiss his wife.

Marrying Meggan was the smartest thing he'd ever done. He'd come close to losing her a few times, out of his own foolishness, but by some miracle, this charming, gentle woman loved him still. He kissed her again.

“Dad, Mom and I are playing. Can't you do that later?”

“No, Maggie. I love your mom and I'll kiss her whenever she lets me.”

“You can kiss me anytime, Brian. Unless you've left your beard trimmings for me to clean up again,” she said with a light laugh.

“I just got off the phone with Jean. She said there have been some odd developments Stateside lately, and to keep our eyes open here.”

“What kind of odd things?” Meggan turned, scooped up Maggie and held her close.

“You're squishing me, Mom.”

“Sorry, darling. Go on, Brian.”

“Apparently there's been a huge battle and now X-Men are disappearing.”

“No!”

“Kitty's missing. So are Kurt and Piotr.”

Meggan put a hand to her throat. “Oh no!”

“If anyone can get them back, it's the X-Men. Don't worry—Meggan?” Meggan had begun to shimmer, and Brian snatched Maggie from her arms as she slowly disappeared in front of their eyes.

“Meggan? Meggan!” He reached for the space where she'd been, finding nothing at all.

“Mommy? Where'd Mom go, Dad?”

“I don't know, Maggie. I don't know. Let me...let me call Jean back. Maybe she'll know.”

The phone rang. Rang. Rang. No one picked up. There was no one left to answer.

* * *

Days passed where Brian felt sick with worry. Maggie asked for Meggan every day. “Where is Mom? When is Mommy coming home?”

He didn't know what to say to her. He arranged to fly to New York and find out what he could, but the trip brought no answers. Everyone was just... _gone_. He tried to keep things as normal as he could for Maggie, but without her mother, nothing was quite the same. After the first week, he decided that sitting around hoping wasn't getting him anywhere. He moved himself and Maggie back to Braddock Manor and took her down to his old workshop.

“Okay, Maggorie-poo, we have to build something that will find Mommy and the X-Men for us. Can you help Daddy?”

“Of course. Where's the flux capacitor?”

“The _what_ , sweetie?”

“I'm kidding, Dad.”

Days turned into weeks, but Maggie declared they were getting closer every day. Brian wanted to hope, but his heart was breaking and he had trouble concentrating sometimes. He hired someone to make meals for the two of them. He found whenever he went to the kitchen, he stood staring at the places Meggan had once stood. He remembered her making eggs for all of them after Excalibur worked an overnight train wreck. She'd been the only one with energy, still smiling and happy. God, he missed her.

The days developed into a routine. Breakfast, play with Maggie, work for a couple hours. Maggie napped after lunch while Brian searched online for information or worked in the shop alone. In the afternoon, he tried to take Maggie for a walk or play with her outside. Some days he couldn't muster up the energy to do it, and Maggie would sit in his lap and cuddle while he stared at the television screen, because it was something Meggan would have done.

A few months into their work, Maggie stumbled on something promising. She and Brian worked frantically after that, forgoing their established routine to work almost all day in the shop completing the device. At last it was finished. Time to test it. If it worked, it would locate everyone who had gone missing, if they were anywhere to be found in any of the worlds in the multiverse or beyond. If they _existed_ , it should find them.

They hadn't considered all the doppelgangers and had to shut it down almost immediately. But it worked, and that was the important thing. Now they knew they needed specific calibrations for the people they were looking for. Luckily, they had some of that data right there in Britain. He and Maggie flew out to see Moira MacTaggart.

She still had tons of data stored on all the X-Men. Moira had a hard time letting go of things. He remembered when a group attacked the station, trying to get their hands on the DNA of her late son, Kevin, the mutant Proteus. Brian had never understood why she kept that, until now. Now that he had Maggie, he understood why she would want to hold on to anything of her son's. Brian held Maggie close as he talked to Moira about what the two of them had been building.

“And it works?” Moira said, turning the device over in her hands and inspecting it. “And Maggie did this?”

“We did it together. Me and Dad.”

“This is incredible. Well done, Maggie.”

“We need some data you have here. The device works, but it finds every doppelganger across the multiverse, and we are only looking for our people. Can you help?” Brian asked. Maggie leaned her head against his chest and closed her eyes. For all her genius, she was still a toddler, and she got sleepy. Brian just hoped she'd still be little when Meggan got home. She was already struggling with how fast the child was growing up. Missing months of her childhood was going to be hard.

If they had to sort through every version of Meggan across the Multiverse, they might never get her home. They'd only arrived home from their stint across dimensions during Excalibur because Roma had helped.

“Of course,” Moira said. “Follow me.”

With Moira's help, Brian configured the device again, and they tested it. Being at Muir was helpful, being around another person who shared the need to find their friends was something he hadn't realized he needed. He should have come out here sooner. Brian hooked the little device to some of Moira's powerful computers and the results displayed across a monitor.

And there they were.

All the X-Men and Meggan were living in some kind of false utopia. Love was forbidden, according to the signs he could see plastered around the city, and yet it triumphed again and again. He watched people being arrested for kissing, for holding hands. He saw a pregnant woman chained up in the basement of an office that purported to be the peacekeepers of that world. Some of the X-Men were in jail. Some were being used as the aforementioned police force, hunting down offending mutants and wiping their memories of love and family. And there was Meggan. She was a movie star, working alongside Kurt. At first, Brian was relieved. Kurt would keep her safe. Then he realized what had happened between them and angry tears fell across his cheeks.

“None of them know what they're doing, Brian. Someone powerful has wiped their memories and manipulated their desires.” Moira tapped some of the keys and the image changed again.

“I appreciate the thought, Moira. It doesn't make it any easier, though. You weren't with us when he flirted with her constantly. When she used to turn to _him_ instead of _me_.” He took a few deep breaths, clicked through some of the scenes playing out, other friends, those in jail and those being hunted. Once he could think a little more clearly, he turned again to Moira. “All right. I can do this. Maggie needs her mother, and I need my wife. Now let's get them back.”

* * *

Once again, he and Maggie went to work, this time with Moira and their old friend Douglock's help. Four people instead of two made a big difference in their work speed, and Brian kicked himself for not thinking of it sooner. But his grief had been such that he hadn't been thinking clearly.

Having help meant he could spend more time with Maggie and not feel guilty about not working. They all shared the job of playing with her and soothing her worries. Maggie, for her part, seemed confident they would get everyone back, and Everything Would Be Okay.

“What do we do with them once they're back here?” Brian asked Moira one day when Douglock was entertaining Maggie in the other room. Douglock was letting her scroll through his memory bank of languages for fun.

“It depends on how they arrive. If their memories are restored simply by removing them from that universe, they'll probably just want counseling. If their memories don't restore, they'll probably fight us. We should keep inhibitor tech nearby.”

Brian felt sick at the thought, but Moira was right. If they did return without their memories, they'd see the rescue as an act of aggression, and they would fight.

“Perhaps we should only bring back one at a time,” Brian said. “To test it that way.”

“I think that's wise, Brian,” Moira agreed. “Shall we start with your wife?”

“Please. Yes.”

“Let's get everything prepared then. I have collars in the basement.”

Brian and Moira assembled the collars and a few weapons—just in case—and instructed Douglock to keep Maggie in the other room. If her mother didn't remember her, or was aggressive, he didn't want her to see it. In fact...

“Douglock, would you please take my daughter up to the house? Maggie, go with Douglock and play in the house. Dr. MacTaggart and I have to do some dangerous tests.”

“ _Non, tu es sur le point de ramener maman à la maison et tu ne veux pas de moi pour pouvoir l'embrasser_.”

“What?”

Douglock translated for Brian. “She said, “No, you're bringing Mom home and do not want me here, so you can kiss her.””

“Uh, well, yes, partly so, Maggie. But it's still _dangerous_ , and Daddy says go with Douglock. I promise to get you when Mommy comes home.”

“ _Okay, aber du sagst mir besser die Wahrheit 1_.”

“Won't your Uncle Kurt be proud of you when he gets back,” Brian said, his heart squeezing in pain even at the thought of Kurt being around his daughter.

“She said—”

“It's fine, Douglock. I got the idea. Please take her now.”

Once Maggie was up at the house, Brian turned to Moira. “How _could_ they? How could she just forget us? Forget _Maggie_? Think that...that _other_ _child_ is hers?”

“They've had their brains mucked about with, Brian. We'll set it right, one way or another. Are you ready to try?”

“I...I don't _know_.” He put his head in his hands. “How do I know this isn't what she's always wanted? She used to hang all over Kurt. He _dreamed_ about her.”

“And you broke his leg over it. But Brian, she didn't marry him, did she?” Moira replied.

“No, but...”

“And he didn't pursue her, did he?”

“No, but...”

“Brian listen to me. I've loved and lost in my day, plenty. That girl loves _you_. She doesn't love Kurt, and he doesn't love her. I happen to know _that_ bit for a fact.”

“How so?”

“He and I had a talk once. Before they went back to the States. Trust me, he doesn't love your wife. His heart lies with another.”

“Amanda.”

“No. Let's focus now. It's time to get your wife back.”

“What about that child? The blue one she thinks is hers?”

“She isn't real. She is a figment of their imaginations. See?” Moira pointed to the data and where the child should have been, there was nothing. Blank screen. “She doesn't exist. They haven't been gone long enough for her to exist.”

“All right. Let's do this, doctor.”

Brian pressed the button, and on the screen, Meggan vanished.

“Where is she?” he cried, panicking when she didn't immediately appear on the medical cot.

“Wait—give it time,” Moira said, crossing her fingers where Brian couldn't see them.

Seconds ticked by, and at last, a form began to appear on the cot. Meggan, sleeping as she had been in the other world. Brian quickly clasped the collar around her neck in case she fought. She woke when he touched her, and looked around in total confusion. “Where am I? What's going on? Where is Tenia? _What have you done with my daughter_?” She was shrieking by the end, and Brian was crying.

“Meggan...Meggan, please, it's me, it's Brian, your husband. Try to remember, _please_!”

She yanked her arm away and scrambled to the other side of the room. “Why can't I fly? What have you done to me? Where is Tenia?”

“Moira, what do we do now?”

“Meggan, my name is Dr. Moira MacTaggart. I work for, uh, your leader. Nate Grey.”

“Why hasn't he mentioned you?”

“I work in covert operations, keeping the peace,” Moira improvised. “He asked me to bring you here to, uh, help some others.”

Meggan seemed to be falling for it, relaxing and straightening. “Why did _he_ put this collar on me?”

“We need to keep all powers inhibited in this research center or they, um, interact with the programs and give us false results.”

“I don't trust you.”

“I understand. Would you come with me for a while? I just want to ask you some questions.”

Meggan reluctantly went with Moira to the outer room while Brian put his head down and cried. When he stopped, he flicked through the screens again, searching for the man responsible. There he was, Nate Grey. The source of all the trouble. In a rash move, reminiscent of his early days in Excalibur, he pressed the button and brought Nate into the lab.

Brian was quick, and got the collar on him before he could use his substantial powers on Brian. But Nate was angry. He knew exactly what had happened. “You fool. You will destroy their happiness! Only with me can they be happy. Love is pain!”

“No! _You're_ the fool. Love may hurt, but it's also what makes life worth living. Your utopia is nothing but hell. You've taken my _wife_ from me, a mother from her daughter. And now _you're going to pay_.”

Brian was about to deliver a deadly blow to Nate, who stood without flinching, when Meggan returned with Moira.

“No, don't hurt him! You awful man, stop it!” Meggan dived between Brian and Nate. “He gave us peace!”

“No he didn't. He took you away from your family.”

“ _You_ took me from my family! You took me away from my daughter!”

“Meggan, your daughter—your _real_ daughter Maggie—is up in that house wondering when her mother is going to come back to her. Tenia isn't real. She doesn't _exist_. She's not yours.”

“No, she's _mine_! Mine and Kurt's!”

“No, she isn't,” Brian said, tears springing again to his eyes.

Meggan stopped yelling. Even with the collar on, her empathy—more than a superpower—told her this man was hurting. Whatever he had done, he'd done it for his child.

“Your wife is missing?” Meggan said.

“My wife is right here, but she doesn't remember me.”

“I'm not your wife,” Meggan insisted.

“Yes you are,” Nate said, shocking everyone. In their heated discussion, Brian hadn't noticed Moira moving around the lab. She stood with a syringe in her hand, proudly smiling.

“Don't worry, it's just truth serum,” she said. “It was just an idea that came to me.”

“What are you...what?” Meggan turned to Nate, taking him by the arms. “What did you say?”

“You're his wife. You have a daughter together named Maggie. My world, the world you were living in, it isn't real. I created it to make peace, but it failed. Love isn't the cause of war.”

“Nate, no, what about Hope?”

“She didn't do any of those things. I took you from your home. I created Utopia. It isn't real.”

Meggan shook her head in disbelief, then anger. “No, no, _she_ did something to you.” Meggan started to move towards Moira, but Nate stopped her before Brian could reach her.

“Stop, Meggan. Listen to me. When they remove my collar, I will bring all your friends home, and I will restore your memories. Then you will see.”

Brian glanced at Moira. “Can we trust him?”

“No. But do we have much choice?”

“How long will that serum last?” Brian said, nodding his head at the empty syringe.

“A little while. I gave him a mighty big dose.”

“Then let's do this now.”

Brian stepped towards Nate to remove the collar. “If you try anything...”

“I won't.”

Brian hesitated. “We need a way to protect ourselves. Do you still have some of those anti-psi helmets, Moira?”

“Aye, just there,” she said, pointing to the stash of things they'd brought up from the basement. Brian grabbed one, and tossed the other to Moira. Now he was ready to deactivate Nate's collar.

And then it was done. Nate was free. For a moment his eyes gleamed and Brian feared the worst. Nate rose to his feet, raised his hands, and Meggan collapsed.

“No! What did you do?” Brian cried, leaping for his wife.

“Brian...” Moira said, still watching the screen. “He's bringing the rest of them home. We're gonna need some backup.”

All around the facility, X-Men appeared, unconscious in heaps. But Brian was focused on Meggan. She slowly blinked and opened her eyes. “Brian?” she said, and he hauled her against him, crying again as he pulled the collar off and dumped it on the ground.

“They're all home,” Moira said, but Brian wasn't listening. “Nate, you'll have to wear this again, lad. I'm afraid we can't trust you once that serum wears off.”

“I understand,” he said, submitting to Moira placing the collar around his neck again.

“You've done a bad thing, Nate. D'you understand?” Moira stood in front of him. “You took these people from their homes, their families, their lives, because you thought you had all the answers. You see now that you don't.”

“Yes. Do what you must with me.”

“We certainly don't intend to kill you. But we can't trust you. Still, you're no dummy. Perhaps you'd care to work here, with me, and do real good for mutantkind?”

“I could do that.”

“All right. First we have to help all these people wake up. Some of them are gonna be in a right bad way.” She glanced across the room at Meggan weeping in Brian's arms.

Nate started towards Meggan, but when she saw him, fury took over her grief and shame. “YOU! You did this to me!” she screamed, and only Brian's powerful grip held her back.

“Love, don't. You're home, let's go see Maggie.”

She turned back to him, and pulled away. “No, no I _can't_. Not after what I did!”

“That wasn't you, Meggan. That was never you. It isn't your fault, and I love you. Maggie loves you, and she needs her mother.”

“Maggie...Oh, Maggie!”

Brian put his arms around his wife again and led her out of the room.

  
  


Up at the house, Maggie had already announced that the X-Men were all home. Douglock looked out the window and saw Brian and Meggan coming towards the house. “I think your Mom is back.”

“Let me see,” Maggie said, pushing Douglock from the window. She clapped her hands and ran to open the door.

The door opened, and Maggie began to cry. Meggan lifted her into her arms, cradling her to her face. “Maggie, oh, Maggie, you got so big my darling! I missed you so much, I love you, Maggie!”

Brian stood back until Meggan turned to him and held out her free hand. “I love you Brian, you saved us all!”

“You know I won't let anything come between us for long. I love you with all my heart, Meggan Braddock.”

  
  


Back in the facility, the rest of the X-Men were recovering. Piotr Rasputin was surprised to find he hadn't lost half of his left arm after all. He kept staring at it, and then at Kitty, across the room. She stood up, holding her stomach, and walked over to him. “Hey Piotr.”

“Hello, Katya.”

“Can we talk?”

“Always.”

“Piotr, I...I don't love you.”

“I know, Katya. It is all right.”

“I'm sorry.”

“It isn't your fault. That man put those thoughts into our heads. He made us do things we did not want to do.”

“I think we got off easy, though. Look,” she said, pointing at Kurt across the room. “And Meggan. Did you see her?”

“I did. She was distraught. My heart hurts for her.”

“Well, Nate tore her away from her family and tried to give her a fake one.”

“Moira is bringing in Cecelia Reyes to help with counseling.”

“Thank god. We're all gonna need it after this mess.” Kitty put a gentle hand on Piotr's arm. “Do you think...do you think you and I will ever be friends again?”

“Perhaps some day, Katya. But not right now.”

“I understand. You take care, Petey,” she said.

  
  


Kitty had it easy. She'd been part of a group that resisted Nate, so while her memories were lost, she had at least avoided some of the worst parts of that world. She'd heard about Kurt and Meggan, though, and Mystique's appearance. And the child.

Kurt slouched in the corner, staring out at the groups of X-Men Moira was gathering into small groups, handing out water and offering to let them stay. Some of them were fine, and once their memories returned, it all became one long, relatively unpleasant nightmare. They wanted to go home, and Moira arranged to have them flown back. The others, mainly those involved in policing emotions, those who'd been thrown in jail, and those who, like Kurt, had been heavily manipulated, stayed behind.

Brian and Meggan returned. Meggan still had tears in her eyes, but she was smiling and holding Maggie. She went straight over to Kurt, who flinched away from her. Kitty watched them talking, waiting for Brian to break more of his bones, but he didn't. Moira joined Kitty for a moment, asking her how she felt and if she needed anything.

“I'm okay. It was bad, but... I think I'm okay. I remember who I am. I didn't do anything too awful.” She looked again at the group around Kurt. “Are they gonna be okay, Moira?”

“I don't know, Kitty. I hope so. At least Meggan's back with her family now. That will help her immensely.”

“Yeah.”

“Why don't you go see about Kurt? I think he could use a friend about now.”

“Yeah, I think he could.”

Meggan and Brian walked away as Kitty approached. Kurt had slid down the wall to the floor where his tail curled around his legs. He had his head on his knees.

She sat down beside him. “Hey.”

He made a sound of acknowledgment, but didn't say anything. Kitty didn't say anything either. Sometimes words aren't needed.

Cecelia came over and Kitty tapped Kurt's knee. He looked up and greeted the doctor. “Can you come with me for a few minutes?”

He looked uncertain, as if he might say no, and Kitty said, “I'll wait here if you want.” He nodded, and followed Dr. Reyes from the room. Kitty saw Laura and Gabby clinging to one another, that glazed look back in Laura's eyes. She'd come such a long way, and now it was as if she'd returned to that haunted state they'd found her in. Ororo had gone home. She wanted to be among her plants, probably dead now. Jean had gone outside. Both Hank and Bishop remained inside. Jubilee was in another corner holding Shogo. Dr. Reyes had brought him with her from the States.

The doctors were going to be working with this group for a while.

  
  


Before she left, Kitty went to visit Brian and Meggan. They were back in the lighthouse, trying to return to their lives. Meggan sat with Kitty and Maggie on the couch, while Brian made lunch. “I don't think I'll ever be the same,” Meggan said.

Kitty didn't really know what to say. She'd gotten through this so easily, and Meggan...how does someone recover from losing your family, forgetting your own child? She couldn't imagine.

“Maggie and Brian saved us all,” Meggan said, smiling at her daughter. “I haven't left her side in days.”

“Mom's getting better,” Maggie said. “Aunt Kitty, why'd that man take people away?”

“I think...I think he was trying to make a good world. Where mutants aren't hurt or hunted. He didn't do a good job though.”

“He hurt people.”

“Yes, he did.”

“Why didn't Uncle Kurt and Aunt Rachel come with you?”

“Aunt Rachel is out of town and Uncle Kurt is at the doctor's.”

Maggie scrunched up her face. “Like Mommy.”

“Yes. Aren't doctors wonderful?”

Maggie yawned and put her head on Meggan's chest. “Thank you for coming over, Kitty. I feel so...heartsick. How could I...how could...”

“It wasn't you, Meggan. You, and all the rest of us, we weren't in control of ourselves. He messed with our heads, put thoughts in there that shouldn't have been there.”

“But love was illegal so why...why would he put that in there?”

It was something Kitty had wondered, too. Why would Nate have manipulated some of them to love, if love was what he was against? She only had one idea. “Everything he did was flawed. Nothing he did worked properly, even his ideas about love and family. I don't think...I don't think there's any other reason.”

“No? But why then? Why...why? If it was so flawed, why didn't I look for Brian?”

“He wasn't there.”

“But...”

“Meggan,” Kitty took her hand in hers. Maggie slept easily in her mother's arms and Kitty touched the baby's head gently. “None of that stuff...none of what happened was your fault. None of it. Those feelings weren't things you were suppressing. Nate manipulated everyone. Maybe you and Kurt found each other just because of the strong connection we all formed during Excalibur. Maybe you were looking for the one friendly face you remembered. And the child...I think that was you, remembering Maggie, and trying to fit her into that world somehow.”

Meggan wiped at the tears in her eyes. “I feel like such a liar. A cheat. I _cheated_ on Brian.”

“No, no you didn't, Meggan, no more than Brian did when Sat-Yr-9 held him prisoner, remember?”

Meggan nodded. “But Brian couldn't get pregnant. What if I'm pregnant?”

Kitty's stomach dropped. She really hadn't thought of that. But of course. Love was forbidden, therefore, presumably, there would be no access to birth control.

“Could...you be?”

“It's possible.”

“Kurt's in therapy right now. But maybe you should talk to Brian about the possibility, and then...then, uh...take a test.”

“Will you stay a little longer? Visit with us? We miss you guys.”

“Sure. Of course. I'd love to spend some more time with my goddaughter, too.” Kitty smiled, though her eyes were filled with tears, too.

Brian ordered dinner and went out to pick it up later. In the middle of pizza, the phone rang.

“It's for you, Kitty. It's Moira,” Brian said, handing her the phone.

  
  


The next day, Moira, Kurt, and the counselor showed up at the lighthouse. Kitty let them in so she could talk to Moira before they all went upstairs.

“You're sure about Brian...” Moira began.

“I talked to him a little more last night. He's upset, but he's not blaming anyone right now, besides Nate.”

Kurt gave her a weak smile, but he still looked worried.

The counselor spoke up. “I'm Dr. Kessler. I'm going to facilitate the meeting today.”

“Kitty Pryde. Nice to meet you, Doctor. Everyone else is upstairs.”

The group headed upstairs, Kurt hanging back. Kitty couldn't remember him ever being so insecure. Upstairs, Maggie was napping, and Meggan was sitting next to Brian on the couch, looking terrified. Moira took a seat at the table and Dr. Kessler introduced herself to the Braddocks. Kurt hovered near Moira, but didn't sit. Kitty took a chair next to Moira.

Dr. Kessler opened by talking about the situation as she understood it, asked for clarification and correction as necessary, and then proceeded with the session. After the first few tense minutes, everyone seemed to relax. There would be no fights tonight. Kitty went downstairs to sit outside Maggie's room and wait. This wasn't any of her business.

Three hours later, she and Maggie were outside in the yard, playing in the grass. When the door opened, she and Maggie slowly walked over. Moira and Dr. Kessler came out together.

“Where's Kurt?”

“He's still upstairs. I think, for an initial session, things went very well,” Dr. Kessler said. “Dr. MacTaggart and I will continue to see Meggan and Brian as needed, and I've given Mr. Wagner the name of someone in the states I trust.”

When they left, Kitty and Maggie went back upstairs. If Rachel had been there, it would have been another real reunion. She sat down beside Meggan, who was smiling and holding Brian's hand. Maggie was happy to see her uncle and waddled over to him. Kurt was perched on a chair across the room, looking slightly better than he had earlier. Kitty watched him pick her up, saw Brian watching him and then look away. Meggan hugged Kitty, smiling even brighter. “Everything really is going to be okay,” she said. “I told Brian everything, and he said,” she lowered her voice, “he said if anything happens, we'll keep the baby and raise it as our own.”

Kitty leaned close to her friend. “What about Kurt?”

“He agreed.”

“Really?” She looked at him, playing with Maggie. He must have known what Meggan was telling Kitty, because he shrugged.

“If it happens, how could I do anything else? I live in New York. Meggan lives here. It wouldn't be right.”

“But...wow. That's....that's amazing.”

“Besides. If I have children someday, I want to raise them with a woman I love, who loves me.”

“See?” Meggan said, smiling cheerily again.

Kitty squeezed Meggan's hand and smiled back. Then she looked at Brian. His face looked strained.

“I'm all right, Kitty. I'm glad to have Meggan back. Whatever happens...” he looked at Kurt. “We'll make it work.”

* * *

A negative pregnancy test two weeks later was a relief to all parties involved. Kitty and Kurt were back in the States. Kurt was getting back to his old self, if a little less inclined to play pranks on his friends. He took the call from Meggan and relayed the information to Kitty over a movie that evening.

“That was lucky,” she said. “Would you really have been okay giving up a baby?”

He sighed, and Kitty regretted asking.

“That was rude. Never mind. You don't have to answer that.”

“No, I don't mind telling you. After all, you are still one of my best friends.”

“One of?” She elbowed him.

“Wolverine gets terribly bent out of shape if he thinks he's been usurped.”

Kitty laughed. “Want popcorn?”

“No, thank you.”

Kitty thought maybe he wasn't going to answer her initial question after all, but he surprised her a minute later.

“It would have been hard to do,” he said, meaning giving up the baby. “I do love children. I always have. And I would like to have some of my own. But I could not possibly expect Meggan to share a child with me. And after...everything that happened, it was the right decision to make.”

Kitty put her head against his shoulder. “You have a shitty reputation, Elf, but you're a good man.”

“Uh...thanks?”

“Have you talked to Piotr much lately?”

“Some. He's all right, if that's what you are asking.”

“Yeah.”

“He's sad, but he said it's better to know the truth than live a lie.”

“It wouldn't have been fair to him. I don't love him.”

“We were all living lies...Brian said it was several months, but it felt like years. A lifetime. I didn't even remember you in that world, _K_ _ä_ _tzchen_.”

“I only knew of you because of the movies. I'm glad we're back. I'm glad our goddaughter is so damn smart.”

“ _Ja_. She's incredible.”

They watched the movie in silence for a while. Kurt draped his arm over her shoulders and she moved closer.

“Imagine if we did have a world where someone like me could raise children and not fear for them every day.”

“I don't think that world exists, Kurt, not for anyone. I think parents always fear for their kids.”

“Perhaps not. What do _you_ think of children?”

“I'd like some. Someday. Not yet. Need the right man first.”

“I was surprised at how well Brian took everything,” Kurt said.

“Me too. I was afraid he'd break your other femur.”

Kurt was silent. Kitty picked her head up to look at him. “You okay?”

“I was thinking.”

“Be careful. I hear that's dangerous.”

He smiled and looked at Kitty as if deciding about something.

“Seriously, are you all right? You look really...worried.”

“This entire situation has been so wrong and so awful and I feel responsible.” Before she could object, he put his hand up and continued. “I know. The counselor said no one person is responsible for all of it, and she thinks there may be some reason Meggan...Meggan and I found each other...attractive. But it comes back to _I knew better_. I can't seem to let that go. And I don't love her that way.”

Kitty patted his hand. “You're doing the right things, though. The counselor, talking about it, taking responsibility for what you can. Just keep doing that.”

He sighed. “I want my life back, _K_ _ä_ _tzchen_. Then I think, imagine how Meggan feels. Imagine how much worse this is for her.”

“It hasn't been easy. I've talked to her a lot on the phone. She's getting better though. It helps having Brian be really supportive. I'm surprised he's been so good, after how he used to be.”

“He changed a lot, for the better. She held out for the right man. I'm glad she has him. That she doesn't have to do this alone. And that she had her daughter—her _real_ daughter—to come home to.”

“You don't have to do this alone, either, Kurt.”

“Of course I do. I'm not married, I have no children. I don't even have a girlfriend right now.”

“You have me.”

“Thank you but I don't...I can't expect you to carry my burdens for me.”

“I'm not. I'm just walking beside you.”

He tilted his head to see her better, then gave her shoulders a squeeze. “Thank you. I will remember that.”

“You better.”

After a short pause, he said, “I love you, _K_ _ä_ _tzchen_.”

“Love you, too, Elf.”

1Okay, but you better tell me the truth

 


End file.
